"We are travellers…not yet in our native land" – St. Augustine
This week I led a Bible study looking at St. Paul’s epistle to Philemon. I’ve uploaded my notes to the Scripture section of this website:
The articles Notes for the letter to Philemon first appeared on RestlessPilgrim.net
(If you don’t get the reference or why this is funny, please click on the image)
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The other day I mentioned that I recently had several opportunities to hear Fr. Donald Calloway speak. During one of his talks he said something concerning St. Teresa of Avila that I had never heard before. He said that in one of her books she spoke about the game of chess. In my childhood I played chess a lot with my Dad, so my ears immediately perked up when he mentioned the game.
Today I set aside some time and tracked down Avila’s text. It comes from The Way Of Perfection in the section where she is speaking about prayer:
“But you may be sure that anyone who cannot set out the pieces in a game of chess will never be able to play well, and, if he does not know how to give check, he will not be able to bring about a checkmate. Now you will reprove me for talking about games…[but] if we play it frequently, how quickly we shall give checkmate to this Divine King! He will not be able to move out of our check nor will He desire to do so.
It is the queen which gives the king most trouble in this game and all the other pieces support her. There is no queen who can beat this King as well as humility can; for humility brought Him down from Heaven into the Virgin’s womb and with humility we can draw Him into our souls by a single hair. Be sure that He will give most humility to him who has most already and least to him who has least. I cannot understand how humility exists, or can exist, without love, or love without humility, and it is impossible for these two virtues to exist save where there is great detachment from all created things…
This is an error which we all make: if a person gets so far as to spend a short time each day in thinking about his sins, as he is bound to do if he is a Christian in anything more than name, people at once call him a great contemplative; and then they expect him to have the rare virtues which a great contemplative is bound to possess; he may even think he has them himself, but he will be quite wrong. In his early stages he did not even know how to set out the chess-board, and thought that, in order to give checkmate, it would be enough to be able to recognize the pieces. But that is impossible, for this King does not allow Himself to be taken except by one who surrenders wholly to Him.” – The Way of Perfection
…and for this work she has become the Patron Saint of Chess 🙂
The article Patron Saint of Chess first appeared on RestlessPilgrim.net
“Bibe Cervesium Non Aquam” (“Drink beer, not water”)
– St Arnoldus
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Theology On Tap continues…
This week’s Theology On Tap talk was given by a Theology On Tap veteran, Dr. Michael Barber. Dr. Barber is a San Diego local and Professor of Theology, Scripture and Catholic Thought at John Paul The Great University.
In a previous Theology On Tap series, Dr. Barber gave a talk called “Spiritual lessons about politics” in which he looked at the wisdom which can be learned from the final book of the Bible, the book of Revelation.
This time his talk focused on understanding our Sunday liturgy, with a lecture entitled “Understanding the Mass: Why do we do what we do?”. This audio is available for download below:
Main Talk (Download)
Q&A (Download)
In the main talk Dr. Barber walked through the Mass, explaining meaning and Scriptural basis for the things that we do. If you would like to read more on this subject then I’d invite you to read Scott Hahn’s book, The Lamb’s Supper, as well as Dr. Barber’s book, Coming Soon.
The Q&A section was particularly lively this session. Here are the questions which were asked:
1. “What is the significance of King Melchizedek [mentioned in the Mass]?”
2. “Can you talk about the Eastern and Western liturgies for a bit?”
3. “The Eastern Rites make the sign of the cross one way, we do it another. Is there a ‘right’ way?”
4. “Why is it called ‘The Mass’?”
5. “Why do we have Mass every day?”
6. “In Acts, the Early Church has held ‘all things in common’. How does that apply today?”
7. “I went to Mass in LA and they stand instead of kneeling [after the Lamb of God. Is that allowed?]”
8. “Is there any difference between attending Mass and attending the Divine Liturgy?”
9. “Why is there a shift in the Apostles Creed between ‘We’ and ‘I’?”
10. “Why is there an additional part to the Our Father in most Protestant parishes?”
11. “Does someone remain a Catholic just because he/she was baptized in the Catholic Church?”
12. “The liturgy was recently re-translated from the Latin. Why wasn’t it done right the first time?”
13. “Who is your favourite student?”
14. “What was the part of the Mass you first fell in love with?”
15. “If you arrive late to Mass can you still take Communion?”
16. “How is the Mass a sacrifice?”
17. “What does it mean to be ‘a living sacrifice’?”
18. “‘I would be a Christian if I saw a Christian’. What does this mean?”
19. “Can you please explain the meaning of 1 Timothy 2:5? What is Paul trying to say?”
If you would like to hear a talk given by his better half, Kimberly Barber previously gave a talk on Mary, the Saints and the Angels.
The article “Words without thoughts never to Heaven go” first appeared on RestlessPilgrim.net
For the last few weeks Fr. Donald Calloway has been in the San Diego speaking at different parishes, telling the story of his dramatic conversion and encouraging his listeners to dive more deeply into their Catholic faith, particularly in their devotion to Blessed Mary. Here are a few gems from this Friday’s talk:
“If Jesus is our brother, then we must have the same mother as Him, otherwise that’s one pretty funky family…”
“You’re born again? Great! Who’s your mother?”
“Jesus calls her ‘mother’ and we will not, thinking that it is beneath us. What madness is this?”
If you ever get the chance to hear him speak I’d thoroughly recommend it. If you live in the San Diego area, there are still a few opportunities to see him in the next few days.
The article The Surfing Priest first appeared on RestlessPilgrim.net
As I was finishing off St. Augustine’s Confessions, I read the section in Book Eleven where he devotes a substantial amount of ink to the subject of time:
Who is there who can say to me that there are not three times… the past, present, and future, but only present, because these two are not? Or are they also; but when from future it becomes present, comes it forth from some secret place, and when from the present it becomes past, does it retire into anything secret?
For where have they, who have foretold future things, seen these things, if as yet they are not? For that which is not cannot be seen. And they who relate things past could not relate them as true, did they not perceive them in their mind. Which things, if they were not, they could in no way be discerned. There are therefore things both future and past. – The Confessions, Book XI, Chapter 17, St. Augustine
As I was reading this, I couldn’t help but think of this scene from the Star Wars spoof, Spaceballs:
I really hope I’m not the first person to have read The Confessions and thought of this…
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